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smoke.”
    “I’ll go.” Robert and Jace both said it at the same, then exchanged a look of mutual annoyed amusement.
    “ I’ll go,” Cole declared into the ensuing silence. He glanced at his companions with a keen-eyed stare. “You make camp.”
    It had become obvious to her very shortly after they rescued her that Cole was the leader, though they all had their roles. A small flush spread over her body as she turned and walked down the slope toward the river, because she knew earlier she had issued an invitation, and she had reason to believe Cole had every intention of accepting it.
    Once upon a time, she believed she would lose her virginity in the traditional way. A bed in a fashionable bedroom, with a staid husband who had married her for duty to sire the requisite heir, dousing the lights as he came to her on their wedding night. Later, she would then join the circles of ladies who whispered of distaste over their husband’s attentions as they drank insipid tea and nibbled on dull pastries.
    But nothing in her life lately had happened the traditional way. She could have remained in London and become a rich man’s whore, taking money and shelter for her favors, but a future as an expensive courtesan had never been an option in her mind.
    This was different. This was her choice.
    Where had this wanton come from? At the moment her heart pounded, and as she climbed down the bank toward the river, there wasn’t trepidation but exhilaration coiling inside her. Cole easily caught up with her, his long stride slowing to accommodate hers, his rifle in his hand. “You in a hurry?” he asked, an edge of amusement in his voice.
    “Maybe a little.” She wondered if he could hear the pounding of her heart.
    There would be no distaste. She just knew it. But then again, he was not her husband—she wasn’t sure what he was…guardian? Companion? Friend? But she did know one thing. He wouldn’t hurt her. He wouldn’t abandon her, either, because he and Jace and Robert could have done that already. That was extremely important in a life that had lost all stability.
    The river was low, earning its name with small bars of pale gold sand, but it did have pools in certain places and she eyed one with appreciation, sitting down to pull off her boots.
    “I’ll turn my back.” Cole’s voice was much throatier than his usual brusque tone. “It looks safe enough but you can’t tell and I’d better stay close by just in case anything—”
    “Join me.” Victoria stood and started to unbutton her blouse. It took some courage to actually open the cloth and discard the garment, standing there just in her boyish pants, but she did it.
    Then she unfastened her trousers, stepped out of them and waded gingerly into the water.

Chapter Five
    It seemed to him, if Cole correctly remembered the classical studies rammed down his throat in his youth, that goddesses frequently tortured their inferior human counterparts, and he sure as hell hoped that wasn’t what was happening at the moment.
    It was a soft evening, the kind he loved, with the sun lowering in a haze of red, the shadows of the trees thickening along the soft flow of the river, and the air smelled fresh and clean. Victoria, gloriously bare from the top of her shining head to her toes, was thigh deep in the water, her pale skin unblemished except for the red welt Robert had treated earlier, the only imperfection visible.
    She was Venus, he decided, his cock at full mast at once from the view. Temptation incarnate, especially for someone like him—an outlaw, no longer used to the refined women he’d left behind when he’d ridden west and found notoriety. Full firm breasts with soft rosy nipples, a narrow waist that flared gently to her hips, and the small dainty triangle between her thighs, a darker gold than the pale shade of her hair…
    As he watched her shake back her waist-length curls and sink down in the water, he fought off the urge to simply jump in and haul her